Five quiet places to study on campus

Simon Isham

4 years ago

By Simon Isham—

It’s finals season. You’re at the home stretch. For many of you, your ability to graduate is contingent upon you passing your finals. So we, the Cardinal staff, put our heads together, as well as our collective 64 years of college experience, to come up with a list of the best places to study on campus. We need you to pass your tests. And we need you to get out of here. Seriously.

5. Quiet Floors in the Library

This one’s a no-brainer — or it should be. In our non-scientific poll of U of L students, a discomforting number have not ever actually visited the library to study or research. Let us point out once and for all that the 3rd and 4th floors of the library are quiet study floors. There are desks and chairs around the periphery of the rooms, which are as great for studying as well as napping. Just be sure that if you are going to sleep in the library, you secure your belongings; put the strap of your backpack or purse around your leg before dozing off. We can’t tell you how much stuff gets stolen in the library because of inattention.

4. Bingham Poetry Room

Because who really likes poetry, anyway? No one — or at least, not many — which is good, because it means hardly anyone will be in there when you go in to study. Last semester, Cardinal writer Ginny Washbish lauded the Bingham Poetry Room as the best place on campus to take a nap when nothing is going on in there. From what we here, we imagine it would be pretty good for napping during the room’s regular programming, too. The room is located in Ekstrom Library, and is down the hall from the Media Desk, on the east side.

3. Music Library

The hustle and bustle of Ekstrom Library just too much for you? That’s because students from all majors tend to use it. Break away from the norm: check out your books from Ekstrom, then head over to the School of Music’s library. While you might think the audiophilic music majors might make this place a lot louder than it has to be, it’s actually quite peaceful. Then again, if music helps you study, you can probably check out some Brahms or Beethoven to make your study experience more enlightening.

2. Texas Roadhouse

This is probably the most perplexing structure on campus. Modeled after the popular steakhouse, this shell of a restaurant does not actually offer food. Perhaps, at one point, it did, but I am too caught up in the bizarro mystery of it all to ask anyone who’s been here longer than I have. Texas Roadhouse is located in the basement of the School of Business, and is used by a few business students to study during the day. And this appears to be its sole purpose, besides perhaps subliminally hinting that you should go and get a cactus blossom instead of actually studying. And if you get the munchies or need to make some copies, there is a small room off to the side equipped with a microwave and a photocopier.

1. Speed School Spot

This took some shoe-leather reporting, because this started as a rumor. After walking through all of the accessible floors of the classroom buildings at Speed School, we determined that it probably referred to either the second or third floors of Vogt Hall. Largely populated by professor offices, this building is completely and utterly silent. In the third floor, just as you enter from the elevator there is a niche with a desk and two chairs that would work very well for a study session. In the hall, there is plenty of bench seating with beautiful views of campus. And — though we’re not sure if it’s available for student use, and assume no responsibility if it turns out it’s not — there is even a kitchen space at the far end of the hall. We can say that, on our visit, the door was propped open and nobody was around. Food for thought.

Bonus: The Louisville Cardinal Office

This is our personal place of choice to study for finals. Located in the basement of the Houchens building, it is just five minutes away from most of our classes, and from the SAC. Quiet? Check. Secure? Check. Count you in? Sorry, but you do have to be a writer or photographer for The Louisville Cardinal in order to use our office for study purposes. The good news? Anyone can write or take photos. We are always hiring, so feel free to drop us a line if you’d like more info about what we do.